Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Montgomery Biscuits Beat Mobile BayBears 7-5

The Biscuits finished the season in style, rallying down to their final strike in the ninth inning to stun the Mobile BayBears, 7-5, on Monday night at Hank Aaron Stadium.

Trailing 5-4 going to the top of the ninth inning, the Biscuits put two runners aboard against reliever Jordan Norberto with two outs. Matt Spring worked to a full-count, before Norberto grooved a fastball that Spring devastated to left field, easily leaving the ballpark with a three-run shot that stood up for the game-winner, as the Biscuits prevailed in the final game of the season.

Spring's blast was the fourth of the ballgame for the Biscuits, marking the first time the Biscuits had recorded four home runs in a single game. Matt Gorgen (3-1) earned the win, nailing down the win on the hill for the Biscuits. Norberto (0-2) took his second loss of the series.

The Biscuits jumped on BayBears' starter Barry Enright early, as Jason Bowers sent a one-out double to the right-field corner in the first inning. A batter later, Matt Fields ripped a low-flying two-run home run to left field to put the Biscuits on top, 2-0.

Mobile got one run back against Biscuits' starter Brian Baker in the second inning as Baker walked Ricardo Sosa to start the inning. Pete Clifford singled him to second base and he scored on an RBI single from Matt Tupman.

The BayBears pulled even in the third, getting a leadoff single from Evan Frey. Frey promptly stole second base and came in tie the game when Mark Hallberg singled on the infield behind the mound.

J.T. Hall's second home run in as many days gave the lead back to Montgomery in the fifth inning. Hall, leading off the inning, belted a pitch from Enright over the wall in right-center field to give the Biscuits a 3-2 advantage.

That lead was once again short-lived as Baker walked Hallberg with one out in the bottom of the inning. Hallberg swiped both second and third base before Pedro Ciriaco brought him in to tie the game, 3-3, with a ground out to the shortstop Brandon Chaves.

Neither starter factored in the decision as Baker left after 5 1/3 innings, and Enright departed after the sixth. Each allowed three earned runs.

Hall stepped in against reliever Leyson Septimo with two outs in the seventh and did what only one other Biscuit had done during the 2009 season. His second home run of the season was an opposite-field shot to left field, that once again gave the Biscuits the lead, 4-3. Rhyne Hughes was the only other Biscuit to homer twice in the same game this year, doing so on April 14th at Chattanooga.

With the Biscuits leading 4-3 going to the bottom of the eighth inning, Ryan Reid was summoned in relief. The lead vanished quickly, as Sosa singled to start the inning and Hankerd singled behind him to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Clifford sent a sacrifice-fly to left field to tie the game, with Hankerd moving to second on the throw home. He scored the go-ahead run, when Chris Rahl pushed a double down the right-field line to score Hankerd.

The Biscuits season ends without a trip to the postseason for the second consecutive season after they claimed back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.